Barack Obama for president

Over the past century, there have been moments when the world held its breath and looked to America for the next move: Our rescue of a broken Europe after World War II; the Cuban missile crisis; the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

We are again at a critical juncture in history. Global markets are imploding. People's life savings are dwindling. Energy needs and climate change call the very foundations of modern society into question. Rogue nations and terrorist organizations have heightened the danger of nuclear proliferation. These problems transcend national boundaries.

Here in the New Orleans area, a cataclysmic man-made flood turned our world upside down and revealed a profound national neglect of our infrastructure. Our vulnerability and the government's unpreparedness were emblematic of other disasters waiting to happen elsewhere in this country.

America is poised on the cusp of new leadership, and once again the world, transfixed, is watching. Who is equal to these challenges? Who will lead the nation that leads the free world?

Our choice: Barack Obama.

Sen. Obama and his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, are both men of integrity, decency and honor. Sen. McCain is a war hero whose character was tested during his harrowing imprisonment in North Vietnam. In the U.S. Senate he has reached across partisan lines. To his credit, Sen. McCain expressed forcefully his dismay at the Bush administration's immediate response to Hurricane Katrina.

But on balance, we believe that Sen. Obama's qualities as a leader equip him better to be the next president.

Running a campaign is similar to running an administration. It requires that the leader set the tone; that he manage a complex organization; that he chart a nimble course in the face of changing circumstances; that he choose subordinates judiciously; that he exercise good judgment under pressure. An effective campaign is the prelude to a well-run office.

Sen. Obama has acquitted himself superbly, masterminding a marathon run with focus, discipline and a knack for assembling a talented team. He communicates across lines of age, class and ethnicity. He listens and he learns. His ability to beat the Clintons, past masters of electoral politics, showed tough leadership and organizational qualities.

A president must navigate by an inner compass. Mr. Obama's steadiness and his ability to weather political storms bespeak self-confidence and a sureness of purpose. We are riding out a tempest, and he is, quite simply, even-keeled. He possesses expertise that should endear him to the New Orleans area.

He knows cities -- historic cities, gritty cities. He came by his knowledge pounding the streets of Chicago's South Side as an organizer, grappling with the needs of poor people. For our own great and complex city, we could use a national leader who appreciates that we are more than a sentimental memory of a college romp on Bourbon Street; that we are a culturally rich American treasure, filled with resilient citizens and worth protecting from the encroaching forces of nature.

As the child of a black father and a white mother, Barack Obama also understands the diversity that is the foundation of our area's culture. As an African-American man from a modest background, he understands and can speak to the plight of underprivileged black youth. He would have a large audience here.

Sen. Obama knows what it means to be an underdog. That should draw him to help in the recovery of metro New Orleans, the underdog city. When he spoke at Tulane University last February, he gained a firsthand understanding of the rebirth of our school system. He also spoke of the need to restructure FEMA and protect our area from future storms.

"I promise you that when I'm in the White House I will commit myself every day to keeping up Washington's end of this trust, and I will make it clear to members of my administration that their responsibilities don't end in places like the Ninth Ward -- they begin there," he said.

Louisiana should have a special place in Sen. Obama's heart. We were the first state of the 11 that gave him a string of primary victories last winter.

We should be clear about our concerns with Sen. Obama. His relative inexperience on the national and world stages means he will have a steep learning curve as president. He doesn't have a record of reaching across party lines; he would need to do so as president. He relies more than we would like on government regulations as a solution to problems.

His criticisms of the North American Free Trade Agreement run counter to this page's wholehearted embrace of it. We believe that free trade will allow America, and our area especially, to flourish in a global economy. It's encouraging to see that many of Sen. Obama's economic advisors advocate free trade.

Sen. Obama has said that he's interested in fostering charter schools, which he did as a member of the Illinois legislature. We hope that bespeaks a willingness to, where necessary, oppose teacher's unions and other traditionally Democratic impediments to reform.

We hope that an Obama administration would hasten the timetable for Louisiana to receive its share of offshore oil revenue. The sooner our state gets more of that money, the faster we can come to the rescue of Louisiana's eroding coast. And we would like to hear more from Sen.
Obama, whose spending proposals are substantial, as to how he would control the federal budget.

We applaud Sen. Obama's penchant to use diplomacy in world affairs. We believe he would negotiate with skill while holding firm for America's core principles and national interest. Specifically, we agree with Sen. Obama's goal to shift the burden of political stability in Iraq to that country's leaders and bring our costly intervention to a close. Sen. Obama recognizes that the more strategically important challenge is Afghanistan, where terrorists are being harbored and bred.

The image of the United States abroad has suffered, largely as a result of the war in Iraq. Still, there is a huge reservoir of good will toward this country. The world looks on in awe as America,
which believes that humble circumstances, class and race should never trump intelligence and hard work, considers the possible election of an African-American man as president.

We believe that Barack Obama could help restore our reputation as a land of opportunity. But that benefit is dwarfed by a larger potential that we think an Obama presidency could achieve: Seizing the chance for America to lead and, at a time of crisis and transformation, be a global pioneer.